1. يا رُبَّ ظَبيٍ بِمَكانٍ خالِ

    صَبَّحتُهُ وَاللَيلُ ذو أَهوالِ

    Oh, many a gazelle in a deserted place!

    I came upon it at dawn, while night was full of terrors,

  2. بِأَغضَفٍ غُذّي بِحُسنِ حالِ

    مُسَوَّدُ العَمِّ حَسيبُ الخالِ

    With a droop-eared hound, nourished in comfort,

    His paternal uncle a lord, his maternal uncle nobly born,

  3. أُعطي تَمامَ القَدِّ وَالجَمالِ

    قَلَّدتُهُ قِلادَةَ الأَعمالِ

    Endowed with perfect stature and beauty.

    I hung the collar of duties about his neck;

  4. يَجولُ في المِقوَدِ كَالمُختالِ

    هِجنا بِهِ فَهاجَ لِلنِزالِ

    He moves about on the leash like a swaggerer.

    We roused him, and he stirred for the fray,

  5. وَآنَسَ الظَبيَ بِتَلٍّ عالِ

    فَاِنسَلَّ قَلبي ساعَةَ الإِرسالِ

    And he spotted the gazelle on a lofty hill.

    Then my heart slipped away at the moment of release;

  6. وَمَرَّ يَتلوهُ وَلَم يُبالِ

    بِالحَزنِ وَالسَهلِ وَبِالرِمالِ

    And he sped on after it, paying no heed

    To rugged terrain, level ground, or sands.

  7. فَصادَهُ في أَصعَبِ الجِبالِ

    وَقائِلٍ لي وَهوَ عَن حِيالي

    Then he caught it in the most rugged mountains.

    And someone across from me said to me:

  8. أَكرِم بِهَذا الكَلبِ مِن مُحتالِ

    أُتيحَ حَتفُ الظَبيِ وَالأَوعالِ

    What a splendid trickster this dog is!

    The doom of gazelles and ibexes was ordained.